Page 377 of Summer Heat
The bag was from an adult novelty shop his friend Kim owned just a little north of here. He could only make out two of the items in the bag but they were enough to send his blood pressure skyrocketing—the first was what looked to be the tiniest pair of sheer white panties that would effectively cover nothing and, Lord help him, a silver bullet vibrator.
He was going to have a stroke.
Stifling a groan over how the word ‘stroke’ instantly made him think about rubbing one off, he gripped the edge of the dresser like a man possessed.
The door was just a few feet away.
He could make it.
But first he needed to get some much needed air into his lungs.
Breathe, you moron!
He dragged in a breath.
And that’s when he heard it.
The tiniest whisper of a giggle.
“Why you little—” Connor lunged at Abby as she shrieked out in laughter and tried ducking around him to make for the door. Snatching her around the waist, he hoisted her cackling body up over his shoulder and tossed her back onto the bed. “You set me up.”
Her giggles effervesced, the unliddable glee in her eyes giving zero credence to all her perfectly scandalized denials.
He trapped her under him, burying his grin against the curve of her neck, reveling in the unfamiliar experience of having fun with a woman in bed without sex being a factor. As he skimmed a smile over her collarbone, he felt the gasp she couldn’t contain like a shot of spiked adrenaline racing through his veins.
Heading straight for his heart.
It took more effort than usual to block its path.
The surprising discovery simply gave his lips even more purpose when they sought out her soft skin once again. Nothing could distract his brain from overthinking things more effectively than that; she was better than scotch in her brain-muddling effects. “You planted that wicked little bag-o-fun there for me to find. Admit it.”
The woman could’ve won an Oscar for the gasp she flung back his way. “What? Now why would I go and do something like that?”
Connor tamped down his urge to laugh and nipped at her earlobe instead. “To drive me up the wall? Send me bursting through my zipper?” A satisfied grin broke through on its own accord. “Though I guess I should be flattered to be the reason you bought all that stuff.”
The cutest derisive snort he’d ever heard shot out of her then—like an impeccably aimed torpedo. “Late breaking news, Connor: scientists have in fact discovered that the earth doesn’t revolve around you; women buy toys for themselves all the time.”
He grit his teeth and did everything short of reciting tort law to avoid even thinking about Abby having any sort of toy-based fun.
Sitting up, he declared sternly, “Foul.”
“What? On what grounds?” Her obvious war between indignation and amusement wasn’t lost on him. Damn, he was having fun.
“When I agreed to your little who-can-resist-who stint, you didn’t say anything about weaponizing our attacks.”
She blinked innocently. “Weapons? You make them sound so sinister. I’d say they’re more like…private tools. Survival tools, if you will. For my time here. Naturally, you were never meant to see them.”
&nbs
p; “Bull. Next, you’ll tell me the snowflake masquerading as underwear in that bag is worn strictly for comfort. Hell, I’ve seen more fabric on the teeny doilies in Skylar’s toy tea sets—”
“Ohhh,” she cut in softly with a smile. “I remember those. Whenever I’d babysit, she always used to go on and on about how her ‘bestest Uncle Connor’ hosted the fanciest dress-up tea parties.”
“I wore suits,” he clarified gruffly, “and don’t change the subject. Why buy sexy lingerie if not to have them be seen?”
By me.
He didn’t have to say it out loud, they were both thinking it.
